Steel Traders have urged the government to repeal its quality control order and allow them to import raw materials. The recently issued order mandates registration of certain steel products like hot rolled sheets/plates with the Bureau of Indian Standard (BIS), a move which traders say would restrict imports. The Bombay Iron Merchants' Association (BIMA) has alleged in the letter that domestic steel producers including Steel Authority of India (SAIL), Tata Steel, JSW Steel, Ispat Industries and Bhushan Steel overcharge domestic buyers. They sell steel at 15-20% premium to domestic buyers, it has alleged, adding that therefore steel imports were necessary.
According to trade sources, India's steel imports surged 71% to touch a record high of 9.31 million tonne in the financial year 2014-15, putting pressure on domestic producers. Because of cheap imports, Indian producers continued to match the landed cost of imported steel which put pressure on their margins. India’s steel imports were recorded at 7.38 mt in 2009-10, 6.66 mt in 2010-11, 6.86 mt in 2011-12, 7.93 mt in 2012-13 and 5.45 mt in 2013-14.
India import steel from China, Japan and Russia. Meanwhile exports have been slow and plunged 8% to 5.5 mt last fiscal. Steel consumption in India grew by 3.1% to 76.35 mt in the financial year 2014-15 as compared to 74.09 mt in 2013-14. India's steel production rose to 88.12 mt in 2014-15 from 87.67 mt in the previous year.